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Topic Review (Newest First)

08-20-2013 10:47 PM

tomandchris

Re: How we chose a school

CaribDream, this is the internet! Every forum out there has people that express their OPINIONS as fact. Then when you question them they seem to get the hair on the back of their neck up and away you go. You did nothing wrong, you will always find people who vehemently disagree with you. Deal with it.

In fact, go over to Cruisers Forum and check out the thread about the couple that are about to build their new Catamaran from a lesser known builder. They have obviously done an awful lot of research and made their decision based on that research, forum recommendations, and their dreams. Lots of know it alls are jumping in their stuff and telling them that they are nuts. His response.."Thanks for bringing that up, great informantion to consider" while at the same time explaining why they are wrong. Nice as he can be...and it is driving some of them nuts! This guy has figured it out and I applaud him for it.

08-20-2013 10:26 PM

CaribDream

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomandchris:1076976

James seems to be struggling for a comeback so he is changing the topic while he thinks about it

I gotta be honest with you, I am completely confused and flabbergasted as to how I somehow ruffled feathers so drastically by discussing my own personal education choices. I'm so turned off by this whole experience.

08-20-2013 10:15 PM

tomandchris

Re: How we chose a school

James seems to be struggling for a comeback so he is changing the topic while he thinks about it

The Great Island Escape
thegreatislandescape.blogspot.com/‎
19 hours ago - A blog about learning to sail and moving to the Caribbean islands. American Sailing Association, bareboating, sailing charters, virgin islands.

Just out of curiousity, why did you decide to put the "American Sailing Association" as one of the tags for your blog?

Let's see. I wrote a post on my blog about my process of learning to sail. After weighing different options, I chose ASA for my wife and myself. What should I use as a tag? US Sailing for which I have no experience? I am ASA 101,103,104 certified and will soon be ASA 105 certified. Others who are considering ASA might want to read about my experience in taking these courses, hence that seems like a logical search term.

The Great Island Escape
thegreatislandescape.blogspot.com/‎
19 hours ago - A blog about learning to sail and moving to the Caribbean islands. American Sailing Association, bareboating, sailing charters, virgin islands.

Just out of curiousity, why did you decide to put the "American Sailing Association" as one of the tags for your blog?

08-20-2013 04:20 PM

landlokd

Re: How we chose a school

Okay, first post. Bear with me...

Iíve enjoyed Caribís topics and posts because they somewhat relate to where we are with our own sailing aspirations. After years of only occasional sailing opportunities on, well, anything I could get my hands on... (catís and monoís 23í or less) we did a week of ďreal adventureĒ (in our humble experience) getting our ASA certís for bareboat cruising and multihulls. The curriculum CaribDream describes mirrors our own on a week-plus from Sarasota thru the Keys to Lauderdale... lots of study, lots of work, lots of fun, and a captain/instructor who yelled at me when I needed it. Wasnít about just sailing, but about being competent, safe, knowledgeable on the water. Maybe those donít compare with all you can (will!) learn with LOTS of time on the water, but for some itís a big step forward in terms of confidence and essential skills and knowledge. Plus, it was a damn good vacation, not much more than weíd spend sitting on a beach for a week somewhere WISHING we were on one of those boats.

One can quickly see the risks here of trying to post anything that seems a POSITIVE from your personal perspective.. something valuable to YOU that you want to share. SOMEONE here will no doubt see it otherwise. (Is that the downside of anonymity?) Anyway, I guess as a newbie I should just quietly keep to our wherever-whenever-we-can sailing forays and our occasional blue-water charters, never mind that we feel some sort of camaraderie with others who share the love and enthusiasm for sailing that we do, even though on far, FAR different levels. I certainly respect and enjoy that in others who share other passions that WE enjoy and are accomplished ďold handsĒ at... biking, scuba, skiing, whatever.

Besides, folks, I have learned SO MUCH in these forums from all the experienced, long-time sailing enthusiasts. You are all mentors even if you donít know it, or (sometimes) donít know it all.

Furthermore, this way I don't have to teach my husband, which is probably for the best since he never listens to me anyway!

A prerequisite for becoming a Sailnet....Naaaa I wont go there...

08-20-2013 02:46 PM

aprilsails

Re: How we chose a school

My husband and I will be departing next Monday on a week long CYA intermediate cruising course which will get us our ICC certification. We've also decided to go this route since it will enable my husband to get both his basic and intermediate standard, while I will be tested for the intermediate standard again. (I have the equivalent of the advanced standard from the CSTA but apparently it doesn't mean anything outside of the realm of Tall Ships).

This will be a light refresher course for me, as well as an opportunity to better learn how to apply the principles I know from Tall Ship sailing to a cruising yacht. It will also give my husband the chance to catch up so that if we were to go out I wouldn't constantly feel like I have to be in charge of navigation and boat safety at all times. The last bareboat charter we did was a little more stressful than I had anticipated since I had three non-boaters onboard.

Furthermore, this way I don't have to teach my husband, which is probably for the best since he never listens to me anyway!

08-20-2013 02:24 PM

CaribDream

Quote:

Originally Posted by aa3jy:1076751

One advantage that I do see in one of the offered ASA courses that one tears up someone else's boat, easily exceeding the cost of the course in damages, from practicing skills like maneuvering and docking. Unfortunately ones own boat could become a 'fender' as these ASA boats practice in adjacent slips. I can personally attest to this as the Maryland School of Sailing has there business at our marina....

I can only speak for my personal case, and I'm sure my instructor would attest to the fact that I, and my wife, did not "tear up" his boat or any other during my training. We did not leave so much as a scratch.

Considering we trained on my instructor's boat which is also his *home*, it was in his best interest to be cognisant of our situation and his instruction methods as to not put us in a situation in which this was a possibility. He did a great job

08-20-2013 02:02 PM

aa3jy

Re: How we chose a school

One advantage that I do see in one of the offered ASA courses that one tears up someone else's boat, easily exceeding the cost of the course in damages, from practicing skills like maneuvering and docking. Unfortunately ones own boat could become a 'fender' as these ASA boats practice in adjacent slips. I can personally attest to this as the Maryland School of Sailing has there business at our marina....

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